Development of RehaBot-A Conversational Agent for Promoting Rewarding Activities in Users With Traumatic Brain Injury

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Technology
• Digital Health Interventions
• Neurorehabilitation

Background:

• Depression and reduced participation are common challenges in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) recovery.
• Behavioral Activation (BA) is an effective treatment, but adherence can be difficult for individuals with TBI.
• Chatbot technology offers a potential avenue to augment existing rehabilitation strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of RehaBot, a text-messaging chatbot.
• To evaluate the preliminary usability and effectiveness of RehaBot in supporting BA treatment for individuals with TBI.
• To augment behavioral activation (BA) treatment for reducing depression and increasing participation in individuals with moderate to severe TBI.

Main Methods:

• Development guided by focus groups with clinicians and individuals with TBI.
• Usability testing through software demonstration trials and single-case experiments (A-B-A design).
• Measures included System Usability Scale (SUS) and self-reported activity completion.

Main Results:

• RehaBot development incorporated extensive consumer feedback, resulting in a flexible system for use alongside therapy.
• In single-case experiments, participants showed increased activity completion during RehaBot phases compared to reversal phases.
• High average SUS scores (demonstration trials: 76.77; experiments: 95) and positive qualitative feedback indicated user satisfaction and ease of use.

Conclusions:

• RehaBot is a usable chatbot that may improve adherence to planned activities in TBI rehabilitation.
• The development process, emphasizing consumer input, can serve as a model for future digital health tools.
• Further research is necessary to confirm RehaBot's efficacy and explore its application in broader TBI rehabilitation domains.